WHY SHOULD WE BE FORGIVEN?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes. They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife. Should I not punish them for this?” declares the Lord. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”

“Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the Lord. The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,” declares the Lord. “They have lied about the Lord; they said, ‘He will do nothing!

No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.’ The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.”

Jeremiah 5:7-13

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Look at today’s scripture passage again and pick out the ways the Israelites had disrespected God:

“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes. They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife. Should I not punish them for this?” declares the Lord. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”

“Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the Lord. The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,” declares the Lord. “They have lied about the Lord; they said, ‘He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.’ The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.”  Jeremiah 5:7-13

First, the Israelites had forsaken Him which means His people abandoned and deserted Him even though He had never turned away from them

Second, it was bad enough that God been abandoned and deserted but note who He was forsaken for. The Israelites chose to give their devotion to false gods and idols instead even though God had commanded them to have no other gods before them.

Third, with this devotion to false gods and idols, the Israelites committed spiritual adultery, unfaithful to the God who had been nothing but faithful to them, supplying their every need.

Fourth, it wasn’t just spiritual adultery the Israelites were committing. God Himself testifies that the men were lusting after the wives of other men, consumed by lust and sexual immorality.

Fifth, the people of Israel were lying about the Lord, convinced that He would never bring them harm, no matter how sinful they had been.

Obviously, they were in serious denial.

So how did the Lord feel about all this?

Consider these statements He made, speaking of the Israelites:

“Why should I forgive you?”

“Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”

“Should I not punish them for this?”

“Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the Lord. The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me.”

The first words alone should be enough to send shivers up the spine of anyone and God’s question should resonate in our hearts and minds today as well.

Ask yourself, “Why should we be forgiven?”

Is our life attitude any different from the Israelites?

I would say at least as bad and maybe even worse to be honest about it.

We still are abandoning and forsaking God in the things we do.

We are still giving more of our devotion, if not all of it, to the things of the world instead of the God who made the world.

With that desertion of God and affection for the ways of the world, we are still committing spiritual adultery, turning our worship and adoration away from God (Didn’t we get consumed with a television show named American Idol?).

We’re still sliding deeper and deeper into the pit of sexual immorality. We’re bombarded with lustful images all the time and there has been a steady increase in men and women cheating on their mates (In fact, a website was in the news lately that helped facilitate adulterous trysts).

Finally, we do all these things, openly sinning against God, with a lackadaisical attitude as if there will never be any repercussions for our iniquities.

Frankly, it’s incredible to me that God hasn’t reached down from the heavens and wiped out most of mankind by now. It’s not as if we don’t deserve it. We certainly merit His judgment much more than His pardon, that’s for sure.

And yet, God does forgive us, even though we don’t deserve it. It’s what makes grace so very amazing.

Despite our sins, God still loves us as a father or mother loves their children. Yes, He corrects us but it’s all in the interest of helping us become the men and women He wants us to be. Where His wrath could be merited to dominate, His love transcends and endures. It’s a love that led God, our Father, to surrender His only Son Jesus to be sacrificed in our place on Calvary’s cross and then to be resurrected in power to ascend and sit in authority over heaven and earth at God’s right hand. Through Jesus, God gave us, His people, a way to escape His eternal damnation and instead receive everlasting salvation.

Now go back to the question posed by this devotion’s title:

“Why should we be forgiven?”

I wish I had an answer for you. I don’t know why we should be forgiven. I just know that we are through Jesus and His shed blood on Calvary that washes us clean from our sins.

And that’s enough for me.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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